The Tallikon Empire is under new rulership. Varkand, the Blind Prophet of the heretical Storm Creed sect, had the Emperor assassinated and claimed the throne for himself, and when the Imperial Order of Mages declared their intent to stand against him, he had them purged. As the last scion of the legendary Order hero Atrim Earthrender, the young apprentice Jonas was expected to be a light of hope for the Order. Instead, he ran away. Ten years later, Jonas has put the purge of the Order behind him, and begun working as an enforcer for a mob boss in the port city of Alemu, but he is torn between his new life and his old one when a mysterious figure known as He Who Treads the Darkness begins urging him to use his magic to resist Varkand again. Varkand's hold on his throne is tenuous - he is crippled by the rituals he uses to extend his life, dealing with plots amongst his nobles, and devoting more and more of his time to the search for immortality, as he knows his time is growing short. With rumors of Empress-in-Exile Talandra Nehriss returning to claim the throne for her dynasty and a new Order forming in the deserts of Herlas, he fears all his work may have been for nothing. He is sustained only by one goal... and that goal is Jonas, with his mysterious ability to access the Banished Way of resurrecting the dead. Nobody can be sure what the fate of the Tallikon Empire will be. What they know is that it will soon be swept up in a great war, and its lands will be cleansed in fire...

Phoenix has left his family, and is on a mission to rid the land of Demetrius' influence all by himself. The stone has taken him over almost completely, removing his conscience, and making him capable of horrible acts of violence, murder, and other atrocities. Can Ember, Lindani and Spedro save him before it's too late? Or will he cut a path across the land, leaving a trail of smoke and bodies in his wake?

Gods, powers and, and I thought that school was hard. Trying to live is hard enough then you are a normal teenager, try being related to a God

A teenage wizard burdened with a mysterious destiny, a cat-girl ninja he can't help but fall for, and a bat-winged daemon that doubles as a diary embark on a dangerous journey in a world teeming with monsters and magic.